Iroquoian

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At the time of colonial contact in the early 1600s, the Mohawk (Kanienʼkehá꞉ka) were the easternmost nation of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois Confederacy), inhabiting the Mohawk River Valley in present-day upstate New York. Their territory included three main village clusters—later called the Lower, Middle, and Upper Castles—centered around sites such as Ossernenon, Caughnawaga, and Canajoharie.

• Eastern Door of the Confederacy: The Mohawk were responsible for diplomacy with Algonquian neighbors and incoming Europeans. Their chiefs held key roles in the Haudenosaunee Grand Council.
   
• Trade and Warfare: Early trade with the Dutch at Fort Orange gave the Mohawk access to firearms and expanded their role in the regional fur trade. They played a leading role in the Beaver Wars and in conflicts with the French and Algonquian groups.
   
• Mission Influence: Some Mohawk converted to Christianity and migrated north to Jesuit mission towns in Canada, such as Kahnawà:ke, creating a lasting Mohawk presence in both countries.
   

Despite disease, warfare, and land loss, Mohawk communities endured and adapted, maintaining deep ties to both their traditional homelands and diaspora settlements.

My Iroquoian ancestry comes through my mother, Marion Bowman, who carried dozens of lineal lines to a Mohawk woman known as Ots-Toch. Ots-Toch stands out as a deeply significant figure in early Northeastern colonial history, a peacemaker. Her husband, Broer Cornelis Van Slyck, remembered as the Peacemaker of Early New York. Though the Van Slyck surname has faded within Mohawk communities, their descendants continue—especially among families in Akwesasne, Kahnawà:ke, and Tyendinaga bearing names like Benedict, Conners, Fadden, Gibson, Jacobs, LaFrance, Lazore, Mitchell, Porter, Smoke, Tarbell, and Thompson.

• Marion Bowman Bruchac (1921–1999)
  
  • Funnel lines: Lines 1–16 (Confirmed), 17–22 (Confirmed), 23–30 (Partially Confirmed/Provisional), 31–39 (Confirmed), 40, 43, 45–50 (Reinforcement/Provisional) + Additional Algonquian DeVoe descent (Confirmed). Total: 32.
  • Residence: Splinterville, Greenfield, Saratoga Co., NY.
  • Documented Indigenous Descent Lines to Marion Bowman

• Jesse E. Bowman (1886–1970)
  
  • Funnel lines: Lines 1–16 (Confirmed), 17–22 (Confirmed), 23–30 (Partially Confirmed/Provisional), 31–39 (Confirmed), 40, 43, 45–50 (Reinforcement/Provisional) + Additional Algonquian DeVoe descent (Confirmed). Total: 32.
  • Residence: Splinterville, Greenfield, Saratoga Co., NY.

• Marion Edna Dunham (1895–1958)
  
  • Funnel Lines: 23–30 (Partially Confirmed/Provisional). Total: 8.
  • Residence: Splinterville, Greenfield, Saratoga Co., NY. Splinterville was a small hamlet in Greenfield, NY, centered around Judson D. Root’s basket/splint factory on Bell Brook (Mill Road area). Augustus Hard Dunham (1828–1887), Marion's grandfather, was documented as working/living there in the 1860s–1870s. By Marion Edna’s time (early 1900s), Splinterville as an industrial hamlet was already declining, but families with ties there often remained in that part of Greenfield/Milton.

• Alice Van Antwerp (1853–1909)
  
  • Funnel lines: Lines 1–16 (Confirmed), 17–22 (Confirmed), 23–30 (Partially Confirmed/Provisional), 31–39 (Confirmed), 40, 43, 45–50 (Reinforcement/Provisional) + Additional Algonquian DeVoe descent (Confirmed). Total: 32.
  • Residence: Schaghticoke → Greenfield, NY. Schaghticoke, at the confluence of the Hoosic and Hudson Rivers, was a multi-tribal Native community where Mahican, Abenaki, and Lenape families rebuilt their lives—an enduring place of refuge and survival. It also became home to Dutch–Indigenous families, including descendants of Mohawk and Mohican women who had intermarried with Dutch settlers during the New Netherland era, carrying forward both European and Native traditions in this shared space.

• Susan Atty Maria Conklin (1828–1901)
  
  • Funnel lines: 17–22 (Confirmed), 23–30 (Partially Confirmed/Provisional). Total: 14.
  • Residence: Schaghticoke →  Lake George, Warren Co., NY. →  Splinterville, Greenfield, NY.

• Lt. Daniel Wynant Van Antwerp (1821–1900)
  
  • Funnel lines: Lines 1–16 (Confirmed), 17–22 (Confirmed), 23–30 (Partially Confirmed/Provisional), 31–39 (Confirmed), 40, 43, 45–50 (Reinforcement/Provisional) + Additional Algonquian DeVoe descent (Confirmed). Total: 32.
  • Residence: Schaghticoke →  Lapeer County, MI (carpenter) → Danville Soldiers’ Home, Vermilion County, IL (final residence & death)

• Winant (Wynant) Van Antwerp (1793–1886)
  
  • Funnel lines: Lines 1–16 (Confirmed), 17–22 (Confirmed), 23–30 (Partially Confirmed/Provisional), 31–39 (Confirmed), 40, 43, 45–50 (Reinforcement/Provisional) + Additional Algonquian DeVoe descent (Confirmed). Total: 32.
  • Residence: Schaghticoke, Rensselaer Co., NY.

• Hester Ann DeVoe (1791–1871)
  
  • Funnel lines: Lines 1–16 (Confirmed), 17–22 (Confirmed), 23–30 (Partially Confirmed/Provisional), 31–39 (Confirmed), 40, 43, 45–50 (Reinforcement/Provisional) + Additional Algonquian DeVoe descent (Confirmed). Total: 32.
  • Residence: Schaghticoke, Rensselaer Co., NY →  Lake George, Warren Co., NY.

• Douw (Douwe) Lewis Van Antwerp (1764–1832)
  
  • Funnel lines: 1–16 (Confirmed/Documented/Secondary repeats), 31–39 (Confirmed), 40, 43, 45–50 (Reinforcement/Provisional). Total: 17.
  • Residence: Schaghticoke, NY.

• Maria Van Den Bergh (1775–1832)
  
  • Funnel lines: 1–16 (Confirmed/Documented/Secondary repeats), 31–39 (Confirmed), 40, 43, 45–50 (Reinforcement/Provisional). Total: 17.
  • Residence: Schaghticoke, NY.

• Maria Van Antwerp (1741–1822) m. Jacobus Van Den Bergh (1737–1818)
  
  • Funnel Lines for Jacobus Van Den Bergh: 1–16 (Confirmed/Documented/Secondary repeats), 31–39 (Confirmed), 40, 43, 45–50 (Reinforcement/Provisional). Total: 17.
  • Funnel lines for Maria Van Antwerp: 1–16 (Confirmed/Documented/Secondary repeats), 31–39 (Confirmed), 40, 43, 45–50 (Reinforcement/Provisional). Total: 17.
  • Residence: Schaghticoke, Rensselaer Co., NY

• Lewis Simonse Van Antwerp (1731–1824)
  
  • Funnel lines: 1–16 (Confirmed/Documented/Secondary repeats), 31–39 (Confirmed), 40, 43, 45–50 (Reinforcement/Provisional). Total: 17.
  • Residence: Schaghticoke, NY.

• Maria Van Den Bergh (1735 – after 1790)
  
  • Funnel lines: 3 (Documented/Secondary), 31–39 (Confirmed), 40, 43, 45–50 (Reinforcement/Provisional). Total: 17.
  • Residence: Schaghticoke, NY.

• Neeltje Wemp (1730–1780)
  
  • Funnel lines: 5 (Confirmed), 6–16 (Documented/Secondary), 31–39 (Confirmed), 40, 43, 45–50 (Reinforcement/Provisional). Total: 17.
  • Residence: Schenectady, NY.

• Neeltje Groot (1732–1784)
  
  • Funnel lines: 3 (Documented/Secondary), 31–39 (Confirmed), 40, 43, 45–50 (Reinforcement/Provisional). Total: 17.
  • Residence: Albany/Schenectady, NY.

• Maria Groot (1712–1789)
  
  • Funnel lines: 3 (Documented/Secondary), 31–39 (Confirmed), 40, 43, 45–50 (Reinforcement/Provisional). Total: 17.
  • Residence: Schenectady, NY.

• Lewis (Louwis) Simonse Van Antwerp (1710s–1770s)
  
  • Funnel lines: 1–16 (Confirmed/Documented/Secondary repeats), 31–39 (Confirmed), 40, 43, 45–50 (Reinforcement/Provisional). Total: 17.
  • Residence: Schenectady, NY.  →  Schaghticoke, NY

• Barent Janse Wemp (1670–1736)
  
  • Funnel lines: 5 (Confirmed), 6–16 (Documented/Secondary), 31–39 (Confirmed), 40, 43, 45–50 (Reinforcement/Provisional). Total: 17.
  • Residence: Schenectady, NY.

• Maria Van Slyck (ca. 1666–1725)
  
  • Funnel lines: 3 (Documented/Secondary), 31–39 (Confirmed), 40, 43, 45–50 (Reinforcement/Provisional). Total: 17.
  • Residence: Kanatsiohareke, Schenectady, NY.

• Hilletje (Hilletie) Van Slyck (ca. 1650–aft. 1710)
  
  • Funnel lines: 1–2 (Confirmed), 3–4, 6–16 (Documented/Secondary), 31–39 (Confirmed), 40, 43, 45–50 (Reinforcement/Provisional). Total: 17.
  • Residence: Kanatsiohareke, Schenectady, NY.

• Jacques Cornelissen Van Slyck (ca. 1640–1690)
  
  • Funnel lines: 3 (Documented/Secondary), 31–39 (Confirmed), 40, 43, 45–50 (Reinforcement/Provisional). Total: 17.
  • Residence: Kanatsiohareke, Schenectady, NY.

• Leah (Elisabeth) Van Slyck (ca. 1665–1728)
  
  • Funnel lines: 5 (Confirmed), 6–16 (Documented/Secondary), 31–39 (Confirmed), 40, 43, 45–50 (Reinforcement/Provisional). Total: 17.
  • Residence: Kanatsiohareke, Schenectady, NY.

• Ots-Toch (ca. 1620–aft. 1660, Mohawk) m. Cornelis Antonissen “Broer” Van Slyck (1620–1667)
  
  • Residence: Tiononderoge (Mohawk Upper Castle) and in Schenectady/Albany, and Ots-Toch is associated with Mohawk territory at Kanatsiohareke.